I watched two films this weekend; Spellbound and The Last Samurai.
The formed was pretty funny, I recommend it have a laugh at American culture and what these poor kids have to go through.
The Last Samurai is fantastic, it really echoes in me of our own battles against progress. Progress seen as the God of the industrial revolution, and still very much a God today. Now we further bow down to money and material wealth, the samurai remind me of other monastic people, who know how to find peace in a corrupt world. If only we could also learn to say no to all the many distractions that surround us. I really struggle with the idea of living simply, I have so much, I am a hoarder, although I have recently thrown a lot of stuff out: or more accurately given it to oxfam.
The samurai are focused people who live in discipline, duty and honour, qualities I would like to be known be, qualities hard to find in today's world, but then you don't see them because the spotlight isn't on them. I hope I might learn to honour God and fight against my own consumerism in the same way the samurai do.
I may have more to say on this.....
Ben and Helen's cat is really cool, he's not only cute and stylishly grey, he's very playful but also affectionate.
Speak soon.....

Thoughts 020504
Sewing is brilliant, yesterday i made a STRAIGHT JACKET (i didn't mean to write that in capitals, it just happened) with my sister (my older one that is not the 3 year old). I've been reading 'salam pax the Baghdad Blog' (thanks to benaskew.blogspot.com) which has inspired me; it's too easy to be too serious about life, we need things that remind us that it's supposed to be a laugh. Salam Pax has got the balance well which is why his blog probably got so popular. Plus that fact that his awareness of the media coverage and tongue in cheek reviews are hilarious and yet cutting to the reality. (I think his blog is called where_is_raed?.blogspot.com, but I could be wrong).
Why did we make a straight jacket you may ask? My sister is a video artist in her third year at Wimbledon school of art, she does some weird things, always thought provoking, I think she'll go far. I believe in using the accident, it's what makes art, the jacket has very long arms which go back to an earlier piece (see the auction, a painting of this is on sale, Claire Blundell Jones) it's all about need, needy people, recognising the vulnerable, and for her, becoming vulnerable.
One of my favorite musical artists is Matthew Herbert (magicandaccicent.co.uk) he has a rule for making music and using the accident:
5. The inclusion, development, propagation, existence, replication, acknowledgement, rights, patterns and beauty of what are commonly known as accidents, is encouraged. Furthermore, they have equal rights within the composition as deliberate, conscious, or premeditated compositional actions or decisions.
This is called the manifesto of mistakes (part of the PERSONAL CONTRACT FOR THE COMPOSITION OF MUSIC or PCCOM)

Hope you enjoyed reading, Tim